YAQ: Physicality

From jmthane

( Physcality? )

The fading lights of RCFM 2004

Saturday evening at RCFM there was a dance and someone brought many flexible chemical light glow sticks. There were some short sticks that were rather bright and longer ones that were not as bright. Someone handed me a few of the activated longer ones declaring them to be duds. While they were not as bright as the shorter ones and seemed not to be much when in an already lighted area, they did cast enough light to be useful in a dim room.

The next night, they were still glowing. Now I was curious, how long would they last? I brought them home with me and have been checking them from time to time. At first they cast enough light that I could read, though they did have to be close to the page. They have grown dimmer, but are not yet completely dark. They are of very limited use now.

Last night I checked again and I had to let my eyes dark-adapt for a few minutes before I could see the dim glow. At first I had to not quite look at them. Averted vision is a trick for seeing dim things by not looking right at them. The eye is a bit more light sensitive off of center as it were. The center is better for detail.

I don't know how long it will be until the things have gone truly dark, or at least to the point where my eyes are not sensitive enough to detect any light from them. Being an exponential decay, that could be some time yet. Since the light is no longer bright enough to be useful, it doesn't seem to matter much. Even so, not bad for being a month and a half after activation.